Another year has come and the decision on whether or not to have a garden this year was one I pondered for the first time in a long time. As evidenced by the dearth of posts from the latter part of last season, my free time has been drastically curtailed. I’ve decided to cut back a bit this year focusing mainly on the existing fruit and some tomatoes, eggplant and perhaps some beans if I am feeling particular daring.
A couple of weekends ago I took a ziplock bag of some Brown Turkey fig cuttings out of the crisper that I had cut last fall. Half of these I treated with dip n grow and placed in cups of vermiculite in my cutting bench and turned the bulbs on. Half of these were covered with the tops of soda bottles sans the lids. I just checked on them and a couple under the covers are working on some small leaves and others have green buds. I’m sure there are no roots yet. The ‘soil’ temp is right around 72-75F
Today I took some cuttings of the female arctic kiwi that I purchased last year. She needed a trim and I got about 9 5″ cuttings that I treated like the figs above. The stems weren’t as large as I would have liked but I thought what the heck. I have no experience propagating either figs or kiwi so I don’t have a clue how this will turn out.
Last night I purchased some tomato seed. 5 varieties in all. Two of these I grow every year (Big Beef and Celebrity). I decided to try Jetsetter and two smaller varieties, Florida Petite and Florida Basket. All were purchased from Tomato Growers Supply. I’ve ordered from them before and have never been disappointed either with their selection or their seed. I and a fellow gardener at work have been asked to give a talk on gardening later this spring. Since many of the staff live in nearby condos I thought I would try the two cherry varieties as Fl. Petite boasts of growing in a 4″ pot and the 40 day to harvest I couldn’t pass up. Fl. Basket is supposed to work well in hanging baskets. I should have time to get these planted and some good sized transplants ready for our talk. The Jetsetter is an indeterminate variety that sounded promising with its disease resistance. Stay tuned.
You write like such an enthusiast that it’s hard to believe you’d have to cut back on gardening or even think about giving it up altogether.
I have really enjoyed reading your blogs and you seem extremely knowledgable with everything botany. I was trying to find yoru e-mail on here directly so that I could just e-mail you but I was wanting to know something. Do you know the law surrounding Papaver Somniferum or any other of the poppy varieties? I hate to think that a plant can be banned period. I find it weird that it is possible for the government to ban something naturally occuring, this may just be the hippy in me though haha. Either way if you answer or not, thanks for the good blogs!
M.
My garden is my santuary. Where my family sees nothing but work and sweat I see a connection to the earth, to life itself. I see creation and am a partner in that creation. I could never give it up totally even if my garden only existed in a container on a balcony. No I am not giving anything up totally. The reality is though that my time is limited and my enthusiasm far outweighs my ability to keep up. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. Couple that with a newly discovered bum elbow and the realization that my heavy lifting days are severely limited forces me to face reality. I will always be a gardener but now I am going to have to find ways to adjust my garden to my restraints, physical and time.
R.
Thanks for the kind words.
I’m no attorney but as I understand the drug laws in the US (assuming that is where you are) it is illegal to grow opium poppies just as it is illegal to grow marijuana. I don’t know if this is a federal or state thing. A check with a local lawyer could give you more concrete information.
I think it’s safe to say that most people wouldn’t know what an illegal flower looks like. Silly laws are not really about what is best for society but rather what economic, social and political currents were going on at the time. (See history of Marijuana laws). And how many other plants in the garden can make you high as a kite? Brugmansia….
Nice blog and I look forward to hearing how the tomatoes grow. I have only tried Green Zebra and ‘Millions’ which thrived in my greenhouse here in Seattle.
Cheers,
Patrick
Will you be posting the talk you have been asked to give? Perhaps a pod cast or something. Love the blog by the way.
GTM,
Thanks for the kind words. I hadn’t really thought much about posting anything. I will probably do a Powerpoint but will look into the possibility of posting something.